President Barack Obama doesn’t know what House Majority Leader Eric Cantor heard during their phone call Wednesday – but it wasn’t what the Republican described in a press release.

“I had a very pleasant conversation with Mr. Cantor yesterday,” Obama told reporters Thursday. “You’re always kind of surprised by the mismatch between press releases and the conversation.”

The White House had said the president was just trying to wish Cantor, who is Jewish, a happy Passover. But hours later, Cantor’s office issued a statement saying Obama had called him to talk about immigration but that he “still has not learned how to effectively work with Congress to get things done.”

Obama said they did talk about immigration, and that he told Cantor privately what he’s said publicly.

“Congress should act and right now what is holding us back is House Republican leadership not letting the process move forward,” the president said. “It was a pretty friendly conversation.”

Cantor’s release referenced a statement issued earlier Wednesday by the White House marking the one-year anniversary of the release of a comprehensive immigration reform bill from the so-called Senate Gang of Eight. In that statement, Obama praised the Senate legislation, which passed with 68 votes last June, but then turned his fire on House Republicans.

“Unfortunately, Republicans in the House of Representatives have repeatedly failed to take action, seemingly preferring the status quo of a broken immigration system over meaningful reform,” Obama said. “Instead of advancing common-sense reform and working to fix our immigration system, House Republicans have voted in favor of extreme measures like a punitive amendment to strip protections from ‘Dreamers.’”

In the phone call, Cantor said he told Obama that the Senate legislation is dead on arrival in the GOP-led House, which the Virginia Republican said was the “same thing I told him the last time we spoke.”

“I also reiterated to the president there are other issues where we can find common ground, build trust and get America working again,” Cantor continued. “I hope the president can stop his partisan messaging, and begin to seriously work with Congress to address the issues facing working middle-class Americans that are struggling to make ends meet in this economy.”